If you could add/change one game mechanic in modern gaming...

Whether it be the red-tinged screen to represent health, an annoying amount of quick time events, or the plethora of invisible walls, there are just some things in modern games that are plain STUPID. We've all come across that level in "Call of Black Ops: Super Ghost Recon Warrior Expert 3" where there is clearly an open road that we could have chosen to easily avoid that totally not obvious ambush, only to be blocked by an invisible wall. What do you find to be the most irritating game mechanic in modern gaming, and why? If you could change one of these mechanics, Which one would it be, And what mechanic would you substitute it with?

LEVEL DESIGN. Nothing annoys me more than the linear level design that constantly forces you to go in the only possible "right" direction straight ahead triggering enemies and events and cutscenes as you walk forward in shooters now. All these vast "beautiful" areas nowadays that are simply paintings on the wall that you can't walk to. In the '90s they used to make much much more complex level structure where you actually had to find the right way somewhat and could mount attacks in different orders on a given level playthrough. It is harder and more fun. You could actually reach all the parts of a given room or area, maybe even occasionally get lost or have to actually search around and take height into account. Doom and Quake and games of that era are more fun than almost any modern shooter singleplayer. I wish modern shooters would at least attempt to stray from the single set path to resolution linear design mechanic. Some games try i.e. Borderlands, Dead Island, but most don't. Not everyone wants their games spoonfed to them resulting in wanting to play only 1 playthrough...know what I mean?

Invisible walls - if I had my way all games would be open world - I hate being forced to go one way - especially as this is usually accompanied by one correct way to play the game- give me choice and room to roam.

I had actually seen this video before, and as funny as it is, it's also an unfortunately accurate representation of the path most developers are tending to take when it comes to game design. While I somewhat enjoy the multiplayer of Call of Duty and similar games (Battlefield 3 is one of my favorite current-gen MP shooters), the single player mode seems to just get pushed to the side, resulting in a neglected, unappealing pile of poo. Linearity + Redundancy = Boring.

Ha it's funny if I could change a mechanic it would actually be to make the game more linear in a way. I hate how it's now drilled into gamers minds to play a game the gamer way instead of acting like it was a real life scenario

Case in point: I was playing Bioshock Infinite. In a section that I was supposed to be chasing Elizabeth. Now of course in real world circumstances you would just chase after her, but since it's a game I first stop and turn around, run around the map, check every bag and trashcan, for some reason there's ammo in all of them, then after going over every inch finally go where I'm supposed to. And I hate it, ruins the environment, the illusion, and the pull a game is supposed to have over a person. I'd love more games that don't put spare ammo and food in every trashcan, that doesn't reward exploration, where if you don't chase the girl you lose the girl and the game. Games that make you use common logic instead of opposite land video game rules

You make a good point. I had never really thought about how some of the open aspects of games do disrupt the realism. While I don't want games to become overall more linear, I wouldn't mind some of the smaller, less important "freedom" to be cut in favor of immersion.

AI response to sniper fire - The point of sniper fire is the advantage of distance and stealth. Given one sniper shot, AI should not be able to immediately respond with ordinary weapons until they close distance. With cover or camo, AI should know the general direction of the sniper shot but should not immediately know the exact location of where the shot came from as a general rule. I find it irritating in a game, playing using a sniper rifle, and after one shot being barraged with enemy AI fire with them charging your exact location. The sniper rifle in most cases is only good for one shot and is otherwise a waste. When playing as a sniper, I want one shot one kill, cover, move, one shot one kill, cover, move, etc.

Social media is big today, even in the gaming industry. While it's nice to connect with friends on Xbox Live, I feel it should be left to sites like Facebook, MySpace, etc. I, for one, am getting tired of seeing a Facebook logo everywhere I go. I just miss the days where gaming was explicitly about having fun, not social media.

Sony has made it clear they are going to dive headfirst into making the PS4 hugely focused on social media also....So it is going to get worse before it gets better in regards to what you are talking about Jordan.